Port of Alaska seeks road realignment for Chugach Electric substation

A stretch of Terminal Road at the Port of Alaska has never been built. The line drawn for it crosses a slope steep enough that grading it would cost more than the road is worth, and the port has been driving an informal gravel track on easier ground to the west instead. The port now wants the plat to match the tire ruts — and wants Chugach Electric to build a substation on what the shift frees up.

The Anchorage Platting Board takes that up Wednesday, Sept. 2. The port's application would divide its 609.6-acre tract in two, give up part of the 80-foot right-of-way and dedicate the same width along the line it already uses.

Dave Hale of R&M Consultants, writing for the port, said the substation would sit "tucked away" on a corner of the parcel where it won't interfere with port operations. The parcel lies in a mapped seismic-risk zone, on the route proposed for a Knik Arm crossing.

Senior planner Shawn Odell recommends approval, contingent on recording the plat and clearing easements. No agency objected, and no member of the public has weighed in.